With more than one million page views and more than 4,000 items, this blog provides news and commentary on public policy, business and economic issues related to the $3 billion California stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). David Jensen, a retired California newsman, has published this blog since January 2005. His email address is djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

We need you to take a few minutes to help save the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and embryonic stem cell research in California. This is under siege right now in the state legislature. A few weeks ago, we failed to stop Senate Bill 1565 (Kuehl-Runner). The bill was passed by the Senate, and has now also passed through two Assembly Committees: Health and Judiciary. The final step before a floor vote is a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee (contact information below). We need you to act now and ask for a NO vote on SB 1565. Here's how:1.Please call the Appropriations Committee at (916) 319-2081 and fax the Committee at (916) 319-2181. 2.Please email us to add your name to our listof those who oppose SB 1565. 3.Please call/fax/write as many of the Committee Members as you can. 4.Please call/fax/write your own Assembly Member. (To find your Assembly Member or State Senator, please click here and enter your address.) 5.Please see below for a script/sample email.

The Appropriations Committee will hear the bill on July 16, and so we need your help right now. If you live near Sacramento, please consider joining us in person to stand up for this research. (Let us know if you can be there we'll keep you updated on time and place.)

Over seven million voters expressed a desire to fund embryonic stem cell research when they passed Proposition 71. SB 1565 would remove the built-in preference for embryonic stem cell research - directly contradicting the will of Californians.

We passionately support the goal of healthcare that is accessible and affordable to all Californians. However, this bill will discourage private industry from developing therapies and cures. Currently, the law allows the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to provide companies with additional incentives to develop therapies for "orphan" diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Lou Gehrig's disease. SB 1565 will eliminate these incentives, making it financially unfeasible for companies to pursue therapies for rare diseases. SB 1565 abandons these patients and their families.

If SB 1565 passes, entrepreneurs and private capital will likely remain on the sidelines in the fight for cures. That means a delay in developing cures and therapies; even worse, therapies for some conditions may never be developed.

Opposing SB 1565 keeps therapy development on the fastest track for cures. Opposing SB 1565 is the best vote for taxpayers because new therapies can reduce direct and indirect economic costs. Opposing SB 1565 is the best vote for families and patients who suffer every day from devastating chronic conditions.

We must accelerate investment in CIRM technologies for the benefit of everyone. And that is why we need you to call now.

1.Please call the Appropriations Committee at (916) 319-2081 and fax the Committee at (916) 319-2181. 2.Please email us to add your name to our list of those who oppose SB 1565. 3.Please call/fax/write as many of the Committee Members as you can. 4.Please call/fax/write your own Assembly Member. (To find your Assembly Member or State Senator, please click here and enter your address.) 5.Ask your friends and family to do the same. 6.After you have done your best to stop SB1565, please let us know what you were able to accomplish. (inform@americansforcures.org)

Thank you for being on the frontlines in the fight for cures.

Warm regards, Amy & Constance

For a full analysis of the bill and its negative impacts, please click here .

Sample Script/Email:

Hello, my name is ______________, and I live in ____, CA. I am calling/writing to urge Assembly Member __________ to oppose Senate Bill 1565 in the Appropriations Committee and on the floor. SB 1565 will remove CIRM's funding preference for embryonic stem cell research and will delay the development of emerging medical treatments that have the potential to help millions of Californians and people around the globe. SB 1565 will price-fix technologies not yet in existence. It will discourage investment in vital stem cell research and cures. We must stay on track to develop these lifesaving treatments, and for that, I am asking for your NO vote on SB 1565. Thank you.

About Me

The California Stem Cell Report is the only nongovernmental website devoted solely to the $3 billion California stem cell agency. The report is published by David Jensen, who worked for 22 years for The Sacramento Bee in a variety of editing positions, including executive business editor and special projects editor. He was the primary editor on the 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning series, "The Monkey Wars" by Deborah Blum, which dealt with opposition to research on primates. Jensen served as a press aide in the 1974 campaign and first administration of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Time served: two years and one week.) He writes from his sailboat on the west coast of Mexico with occasional visits to land. Jensen began writing about the stem cell agency in 2005, noting that it is an unprecedented effort that uniquely combines big science, big business, big academia, big politics, religion, ethics and morality as well as life and death. The California Stem Cell Report has been identified as one of the best stem cell sites on the Internet. Its readership includes the media (both mainstream and science), a wide range of academic/research institutions globally, the NIH and California policy makers.